Cautionary Word Regarding $31 Fee

Amendments to List of Creditors and Mailing Matrix - A Cautionary Word re Fee for Amending

For amendments to a debtor’s schedules of creditors, lists of creditors, matrix, or mailing lists, $31 for each amendment, provided the bankruptcy judge may, for good cause, waive the charge in any case. No fee is required when the nature of the amendment is to change the address of a creditor or an attorney for a creditor listed on the schedules or to add the name an address of an attorney for a listed creditor.

When a debtor files:

(1) an amended schedule, and

(2) an Amendment to List of Creditors and Mailing Matrix (reflecting a change on the amended schedule)

are filed on the same date, and a $31 fee is owed for the amendment of the schedule, the clerk does not require a second $31 fee for the Amendment to List of Creditors and Mailing Matrix.

But when the two documents are filed on different dates, the Clerk’s Office will charge a $31 fee for each document.

Accordingly, whenever the debtor amends the schedules and the amendments require a change in the List of Creditors and Mailing Matrix, the debtor ought to file the Amendment to the List of Creditors and Mailing Matrix on the same date as the amended schedules if the debtor wishes to avoid incurring two $31 fees.